HARWICH — Under the newly approved multifamily zoning amendment, the owner of the former Royal of Harwich Center nursing home/assisted living property at the corner of Bank and Parallel streets will be going before the planning board next week seeking permits for a 26-unit apartment complex. A similar proposal for re-use of the two buildings drew opposition from residents of the area last spring, and the appli...

HARWICH — There will be a new flower garden at the entrance to the Harwich Food Forest Walking Commons at the Bay Road power lines in East Harwich, serving primarily as a pollinator habitat in the public gardens. The Food Forest Initiative of Cape Cod – working with the Harwich Water Department, which owns the land, and Eversource, the utility company that holds the power line easement – established a perennia...

HARWICH — The conflict between commercial enterprises and quality of life for residents in Harwich Port continues to increase in volume. Last week selectmen put a temporary halt to the ad hoc noise containment committee looking at the issue in order to get better control of the volume control dial. Selectman Michael MacAskill, who serves as the board’s liaison to the ad hoc committee, requested that the the co...

HARWICH — For several years, the conservation commission has been deliberating the future of the Herring River cranberry bogs as part of updating the Bell’s Neck Land Management Plan. Last week the commission decided to back limited management which will allow the bogs to naturalize gradually. The property was designated conservation land in 1993 and the bogs had been leased for cranberry production a couple o...

HARWICH — Officials are considering altering the town's participation in the Dennis-Harwich-Yarmouth Clean Waters Community Partnership to reduce its initial financial contribution by shifting the focus to Harwich Center. Wastewater costs have been a thorn in the financial side of the community. The town’s initial sewering projects in East Harwich were expected to service 600 homes at $18.5 million, but the lo...

HARWICH — Town Planner Charleen Greenhalgh will retire in three weeks after 33 years as a public servant. She has spent 10 of those years working for the town of Harwich. With Greenhalgh’s departure, there could be some changes coming to the planning department. Selectmen Chairman Larry Ballantine said he has been talking with Interim Town Administrator Joseph Powers about posting the position, but part of Pow...

HARWICH — Selectmen on Monday night conducted a performance review of Interim Town Administrator Joseph Powers and came to the consensus that he has “exceeded expectations.” Powers received particularly strong reviews for municipal finance and budgeting, economic development and community planning. Using a new SMART goal setting process, the board is planning to conduct three evaluations during Powers’ one-yea...

Commission To Seek CPA Funds HARWICH — The brick and stone underpinnings of the oldest section of Brooks Academy is in poor condition, and the Brooks Academy Museum Commission will seek Community Preservation Act funds to replace it with a new foundation. The commission also plans to add a full basement to the historic structure at a cost of more than $1 million. The historic former schoolhouse located at t...

HARWICH — Over the past couple of years the number of algae blooms in local ponds seem to be on the rise. Skinequit Pond in South Harwich has experienced two blooms just in the past two weeks, and for the second year in a row the West Reservoir in West Harwich had the blue-green shade that is emblematic of cyanobacteria. The town had a decade-long battle with algae blooms and fish kills in Hinckley’s Pond befo...

HARWICH — The sugar kelp farm that Mark Kelleher has been operating off the Herring River in Nantucket Sound will be expanded this year with the addition of juvenile bay scallops. Kelleher received approval from the conservation commission last week to experiment with growing bay scallops as part of the kelp farm the commission approve in 2018. Kelle h er told the commission he was somewhat disappointed w...

HARWICH — With insightful questions and a straightforward demeanor that would have been at home in a national presidential debate, members of the Monomoy Regional High School political action club questioned the candidates for the Massachusetts Ninth Congressional District during an online debate last Friday. The session was ably moderated by student Annalise Langelier. Incumbent William Keating, a Democrat, a...

HARWICH — An affordable housing trust session and a scheduled discussion by the board of selectmen on a proposed 100-unit residential development off Route 137 in East Harwich were halted based on the recommendations of Interim Town Administrator Joseph Powers. Because there is no formal permit application for developer Chris Wise's project, Powers recommended officials refrain from discussions. He told sel...